4 Indians dead: 5-vehicle crash in US leaves SUV charred
Four Indian nationals, including a woman, were killed in a horrific multi-vehicle crash in Texas, United States. The victims—Aryan Raghunath Orampati, Farooq Shaik, Lokesh Palacharla, and Darshini Vasudevan—had connected through a carpooling app and were traveling to Bentonville in Arkansas when the accident occurred. Their SUV caught fire due to the collision with five other vehicles on Friday afternoon.
Victims' identities and journey details revealed
The victims were identified as Orampati, Shaik, Palacharla, and Vasudevan. Orampati and Shaik were returning from a visit to his cousin in Dallas. Palacharla was en route to Bentonville to meet his wife while Vasudevan, a University of Texas graduate, was visiting her uncle in Bentonville. The carpooling app they used for their journey helped authorities identify them after the tragic incident.
Victims' backgrounds and family reactions
Orampati's father, Subhash Chandra Reddy, is a business owner in Hyderabad. Orampati had recently completed his engineering degree at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore. Shaik, also from Hyderabad, resided in Bentonville while Vasudevan hailed from Tamil Nadu and lived in Frisco, Texas. Shaik's father revealed that his son had moved to the US three years ago to complete his MS degree which he recently finished.
Accident details and ongoing investigation
The accident occurred on US Route 75 in Anna, Texas, around three:30pm. Witnesses reported that traffic had significantly slowed down on the highway when a speeding truck failed to slow down and rear-ended the victims' SUV. The impact was so severe that all four occupants were trapped inside and unable to escape. Authorities are now relying on DNA fingerprinting and teeth and bone remains to confirm the identities of the charred bodies.
